In Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2003-127436, for example, an inkjet recording apparatus in which an inkjet head is provided with an ink collection port is disclosed. This inkjet recording apparatus includes an inkjet head, wiping means provided with a blade for removing ink adhering to a surface of a nozzle plate, purge means for drawing ink from a nozzle, and performing ink replenishment or disposal, and cap means for protecting the nozzle from dryness when printing is not performed. The inkjet head includes a nozzle for ejecting ink droplets, and an ink collection port provided in the vicinity of the nozzle. The inkjet recording apparatus further includes an ink collection pump connected to an ink collection path. The ink collection port is formed larger than the diameter of the nozzle, and smaller than the thickness of the blade of the wiping means.
In this inkjet recording apparatus, in a maintenance operation of the inkjet head, the blade of the wiping means performs a wiping operation of the nozzle plate. Simultaneously with the wiping operation, the ink collection pump operates. As a result of this, the ink gathered up by the blade is drawn into an ink suction port.
In the conventional inkjet recording apparatus described above, the ink collection pump is required in addition to the general configuration of the apparatus, thereby complicating the structure. Further, the ink collection pump is configured to operate only at the time of the wiping operation of the wiping means, and hence, although improvement in the wiping effect can be expected, there is the problem that the ink collection pump does not always lead to reduction in the number of times of execution of maintenance.